Conventionally, a communication apparatus capable of receiving data and controlling printing on the basis of the received data is generally known.
On the other hand, data communication which is conventionally usually performed from computers can now be performed from telephones and facsimile apparatuses. In particular, a facsimile apparatus having an Internet connecting function can connect to a Web server by dial-up connection, receive data described in HTML and the like and image information such as JPEG and GIF, display the received data and information on a screen, and print out the displayed data and information.
More specifically, when a user presses a print key while received data is displayed, the display data stored in a VRAM is converted into a printing form. If the received data is color (RGB) image data, printing data is generated by converting this received data into a printing format by performing color conversion into four colors (CMYK) used in a printer. The converted printing data is input to and printed by a built-in printer.
Apparatuses for printing data received from the Internet are also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 10-016354 and 10-260797. In these inventions, a printer directly receives data from the Internet and prints the received data. This saves the operator the trouble of printing received data after the data is displayed on a terminal such as a PC.
Unfortunately, the above prior art does not perform control, when a communication apparatus prints data, such that the printing process commences after the connection to the line is disconnected. Therefore, the connection to the line is maintained while printing is performed, so the communication line is unnecessarily used.
Especially when a communication apparatus contains an inkjet printer, an initial operation for preventing ink clogging and the like requires a long time, so the communication line is unnecessarily used. Likewise, if printing sheets of paper are used up, the communication line is unnecessarily used until new paper sheets are set. Furthermore, in the measured rate system, a useless line rental fee is charged.